Trade analysts advise govt on recession risks Trade experts yesterday advised the government to aggressively negotiate with the Obama administration to obtain duty-free and quota-free access for Bangladeshi goods to the US. “This is the time to chalk out details with the Obama administration,” Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow with the Centre for Policy ... Read more
Dhaka Mirror
Motorola eyes strong foothold
Motorola, one of the leading mobile device makers, is developing plenty of strategies to grab a significant share of Bangladesh’s untapped handset market. The US-based company yesterday said it has taken a lot of strategic plans, which will be disclosed soon, to re-enter Bangladesh market with a wider distribution network. The existing 45-million mobile market ... Read more
Stocks shoot up on banks
Dhaka stocks rebounded strongly yesterday from continuous loss and flat trends for the last few days with all its indices going up backed by banking shares, although decliners beat advancers. The benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, DSE General Index, rose by 39.62 points, or 1.63 percent, to 2,466.16 points. The DSE All Share ... Read more
Software exports grow 67pc in July-January
Staying immune from the ongoing global meltdown, the local information technology industry witnessed a 67 percent rise in exports during the first seven months (July-January) of this fiscal year, compared to the same period a year earlier. The IT-enabled service makers fetched $19.75million from exports during the time, which was $11.77million last fiscal. Software exports ... Read more
New boss vows ‘reinvented’ GM even in bankruptcy
Embattled General Motors is girding for bankruptcy if necessary but will still emerge “reinvented” from its wrenching crisis, GM’s new government- backed boss Fritz Henderson said yesterday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said President Barack Obama’s administration was looking at all options for GM, after former CEO Rick Wagoner was replaced by Henderson last week on ... Read more
IBBL Quaraanic Language Institute inaugurated
Islami Bank Foundation, a subsidiary organisation of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd (IBBL) has introduced ‘Quaraanic Language Institute’ through an inaugural function at Mohammad Younus Auditorium of Islami Bank Tower recently. Shah Abdul Hannan, former Chairman, Board of Directors of IBBL and also former Secretary inaugurated the institute as the chief guest. Principal MouIana Zainul Abedin, ... Read more
RPP project chief, BB officials visit Japan-BD Security Printing factory
A high-level team comprising of RPP Project Chief Dick Moss (Sri Lanka), BACH Project Implementation Manager Nayeni Fernando (Sri Lanka) and Executive Director of Bangladesh Bank Mohiuddin Ahmed on Sunday visited the factory of Japan-Bangladesh security printing & papers Ltd. Located at Bhulta in Narayangonj. They along with Chairman of Japan-Bangladesh Group Salim Prodhan have ... Read more
Ashraful breaks into top 10 finally
National skipper Mohammad Ashraful finished among the top 10 batsmen in the Dhaka Premier League thanks to his solid performance in the Super League phase, revealed the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Ashraful hammered four successive half-centuries in five matches of the Super League to add 285 runs to his 258 from the 10 games of the ... Read more
Two practice matches for Dido’s boys
The Bangladesh national football team will play two practice matches on April 16 and April 20 ahead of their AFC Challenge Cup Group-A fixtures. The Bangladesh Football Federation has decided that one of the matches will be played outside Dhaka and if possible against a foreign side. Bangladesh will play against Myanmar, Cambodia and either ... Read more
Shuvo knocking on the door
Promising batsman Shamsur Rahman caught the eyes of none other than Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya during the just concluded Premier Division Cricket League. And there was a genuine reason in the eulogies as the elegant Mohammedan right-hander not only finished as the highest run-getter in the country’s most coveted competition with 677 runs in ... Read more
India scent victory
India were on the brink of their first series win in New Zealand since 1968 after the hosts lost four second-innings wickets still needing 450 runs for victory in the third Test in Wellington on Monday. New Zealand were struggling at 167 for four when bad light stopped play almost an hour early on the ... Read more
Pakistan pick three ICL rebels in World T20 squad
KARACHI: Pakistan on Monday took a giant stride towards recalling their Indian Cricket League (ICL) rebels by including three of them in a 30-man preliminary squad for the 2009 World Twenty20 Championship to be held in England in June. Seasoned all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, fast bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and opener Imran Nazir are the three ICL ... Read more
Shoaib is back, yet again!
Pakistan include controversial pacer in 15-man squad for series against Australia KARACHI: Controversial pacer Shoaib Akhtar made yet another comeback on Monday when he was named in a 15-man squad for the one-day series against Australia in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Chief selector Abdul Qadir said that Shoaib has completely recovered from a knee injury ... Read more
Local Snippets
Railway Hospital Colony City Corporation High School were awarded the second semifinal of the Standard Chartered Young Tigers Under 16 National School Tournament yesterday at the City Club Ground in Dhaka. The match was abandoned due to rain and Railway School got the better of Faridpur Zilla School because of a better average run-rate. Railway ... Read more
Rahul catches world record
India cricketer and former captain Rahul Dravid has broken the world record for the number of catches in Test matches by an outfielder. When Dravid helped to dismiss the New Zealand batsman Tim McIntosh on Monday it was his 182nd catch in a Test career going back to 1996. Dravid’s landmark was reached on the ... Read more
Lanka rewards Pak bus driver
Sri Lanka rewarded a Pakistani coach driver with 21,800 dollars for his role in protecting the island’s cricket team during last month’s gun and grenade attack in Lahore in a ceremony held at Colombo. Meher Mohammad Khalil was hailed as a hero for driving the team to safety after their coach was attacked by suspected ... Read more
Govt to seek evidence from Pakistan, US
War Crime Trial Govt to seek evidence from Pakistan, US UN names 4 international experts to help in probe The United Nations (UN) has named four international war crime experts to assist Bangladesh in the trials of war criminals of 1971, responding to a request of the government, officials said. The government has also taken ... Read more
MPs get sweeping authority as upazila parishad bill passed
Parliament on Monday unanimously passed the upazila parishad bill with provisions giving lawmakers sweeping authority over upazila parishads in their constituencies. The house passed another bill cancelling the Gram Sarkar [village government] system enacted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government in the past. The Upazila Parishad (Repealed Act Re-Introduction and Amendment) Bill made it mandatory ... Read more
Action demanded for violation of EC code in poll spending
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Trusty Board Chairman Professor Muzaffer Ahmed on Monday called upon the government to conduct audit and take legal action against those responsible for additional expenditure during 9th parliamentary election in excess of the amount fixed by the Election Commission. This call was made while TIB Chairman are addressing a press conference ... Read more
Most think-tanks fulfilling foreign agendas
Source of funding shrouded in mystery Most think-tanks fulfilling foreign agendas With the source of funding remaining highly ‘mysterious’ there seems to be lack of transparency in financial matters of most so called think-tanks as they work more for themselves and their financers than the country and people. Talking to The Bangladesh Today, some top ... Read more